Tuesday, March 29, 2011

What We're Eating Lately

Mealtimes are getting increasingly fun for us! Reilly is eating lots of finger foods now, and is getting in her two front teeth! She's so good at chewing now, which makes me feel so much better about giving her new finger foods to try. Hubby and I are nuts about choking, so it's a relief for us that she's getting better at these foods. But still, I am not a "give her a chunk of banana and she'll suck on it" person. Everything she eats is in little bite-size pieces. It's so cute to watch her eat!

In these pictures, she's having bananas and watermelon, which was her first watermelon experience! She loved it. We usually have fruit and baby oatmeal cereal for breakfast. A new favorite fruit is peeled, diced grapes. Yum!

For lunch she always has a YoBaby yogurt, and then all different things lately. She's had vegetables that hubby and I had the night before (peas are a great fast finger food while I'm preparing everything else). I also buy the frozen diced veggies, and steam them up, and give her everything except the corn. Just because there is a lot of corn in the mix, and I think it's not at nutritious as the peas, carrots, and beans.

Speaking of beans! I love making pureed soups, and freezing them in ice cube trays for her. I made a 12 bean soup (the kind with raw beans that come in the bag), and threw in billions of veggies and some lentils. Then, I blended it up, Hubby and I added sour cream and loved it, and Reilly had it for lunch for days!

I also made this carrot soup for us and her. Except I added lentils for extra protein and goodness, and also left out the cream for hers. The soup is stored and travels so easily in the ice cubes!Another way I like her to get meats in through homemade beef stew, and chicken soup. I make my mama's chicken soup recipe and load it up with veggies. Then using a slotted spoon, strain off the chicken and veggies, leaving most of the broth behind when I blend it up. I obviously save the broth for other recipes, I mean let's be real people. No wasting!

For her beef stew, I made this amazing recipe that I found, which Hubby and I are obsessed with as well. Except I substituted regular potatoes, for sweet potatoes. And I added peas. Just a bag of frozen ones. For dinner, we might defrost a few ice cubes of the stew, and throw in ice cubes of other purees veggies that are in the freezer. Funny thing that you might notice about the stew - there is wine and beer in it! Which makes is insanely amazing. But don't worry about giving it to the babe - it simmers and cooks off for hours, leaving only the flavor and none of the alcohol.

My main goal is that she is eating a wide variety, nice and healthy, and lots of flavors that Hubby and I love to eat. She's had garlic, onions, and olive oil already in many foods. I'm not one that's going to accept that she "only eats this or that". Not liking certain things are okay at times, but picky eaters are not welcome in our cooking home! I want our kids to enjoy cooking, preparing, flavors, seasoning, and healthy eating. Right now, here's to hoping that's what happens! But we're doing the best we can to make sure it does.

This is at the end of breakfast. Reilly will always let you know when she's tired, by rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand vigorously and continuously. It is utterly adorable and I just squeeze her when she does it. I'm not sure if this is typical of babies when they are tired? Since she is the only baby I have ever had. It is just so funny and adult-like to me. This is exactly what I do in the morning/evening, so maybe she learned it from her mama. :)

Our Family

About Me

My name is Kate, and I live in the country with my husband, our two sweet little girls, and our little boy. I am loving learning how to be a mama of three, and watching these babies of ours grow. My days begin with diapers and sippy cups, end with ice cream and prayers, with a lot of laughter in between. :)